Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: Gull line up 2

  1. #1
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Dallas, Texas.
    Posts
    6,260
    Threads
    426
    Thank You Posts

    Default Gull line up 2

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    40D. 400f5.6L at f/7.1. iso 400. 1/2000s.

    Same situation as yesterday's post. Just a different shooting position. I realise that the HA of the lead gull is a little extreme. I have shots with better HA...but none of those have the symmetry. With so many gulls changing their HA all the time, I was more than happy to get one like this.

    All C&C welcome.

  2. #2
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    106
    Threads
    16
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaustubh Deshpande View Post
    40D. 400f5.6L at f/7.1. iso 400. 1/2000s.

    Same situation as yesterday's post. Just a different shooting position. I realise that the HA of the lead gull is a little extreme. I have shots with better HA...but none of those have the symmetry. With so many gulls changing their HA all the time, I was more than happy to get one like this.

    All C&C welcome.
    I like that you included this shot after yesterdays post because it gives a glimpse into the creative process. You made me laugh with your comment about 'so many gulls changing their head angles all the time'. I can just imagine how crazy that would be.

  3. #3
    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Centurion, South Africa
    Posts
    21,360
    Threads
    1,435
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Kaus, good display of DOF, and I like how the near gull mirror's the poses of the rest. Well spotted.

  4. #4
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Memphis, TN
    Posts
    1,873
    Threads
    320
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Well done. Nice captue of similar head angles and I really like the background.

  5. #5
    Danny J Brown
    Guest

    Default

    I like this one better of the two, KD. I can't believe you said the head angle on the first bird is extreme! The bird has a beautiful head angle with wonderful eye exposure. Sounds like you caught a case of head angle-itis with all those birds and their different head angles. I can't even believe I've used the word head angle so many times in a paragraph. I didn't even know what head angle was when I first came to BPN.......Anyway, this is a great shot KD; very whimisical, fun and unique. Thanks for mixing it up a bit on a Wednesday evening. Keep 'em comin'.

    DB

  6. #6
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Dallas, Texas.
    Posts
    6,260
    Threads
    426
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Danny, extreme was probably a wrong word. I'd have liked it similar to the second gull...that is what I was waiting for..but didn't get.

  7. #7
    Danny J Brown
    Guest

    Default

    Yea....I know.....I was just messing with you a little. :) Take care, KD.

    Danny

  8. #8
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Shanghai, China
    Posts
    1,076
    Threads
    129
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Kaus, I've been studying your work for several months now and I know you know what you're doing. Still, I'd like to ask: What would have happened if you'd stopped down a great deal, enough to get many of the gulls in focus? Would you have ended up with a distractingly distinct background? Not really, because your gulls dominate the frame. Would stopping down have decreased your ss to a dangerously low level? Not necessarily, because at F/7.1 you were only at ISO 400 and a very fast 1/2000s; I know these gulls were moving constantly, but I think that a shutter speed of 1/250s would have given you a few shots in which all or most of them were frozen. You also may have been able to up your ISO a bit. Had I been in your situation, I definitely would have used your specs; indeed, they'd have been my default. But I think I'd have also liked a few shots in which four or five of the gulls are sharp. Whaddya think?

  9. #9
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Costa Rica
    Posts
    4,547
    Threads
    253
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Interesting image and good comment by Craig!
    You are exploring and using your photo op wich is great. I should try something like this when the chance comes. They all seem to have their head turned away from you! yes I know it is hard to get with one, never mind a bunch!:)

  10. #10
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Dallas, Texas.
    Posts
    6,260
    Threads
    426
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Craig Brelsford View Post
    Kaus, I've been studying your work for several months now and I know you know what you're doing. Still, I'd like to ask: What would have happened if you'd stopped down a great deal, enough to get many of the gulls in focus? Would you have ended up with a distractingly distinct background? Not really, because your gulls dominate the frame. Would stopping down have decreased your ss to a dangerously low level? Not necessarily, because at F/7.1 you were only at ISO 400 and a very fast 1/2000s; I know these gulls were moving constantly, but I think that a shutter speed of 1/250s would have given you a few shots in which all or most of them were frozen. You also may have been able to up your ISO a bit. Had I been in your situation, I definitely would have used your specs; indeed, they'd have been my default. But I think I'd have also liked a few shots in which four or five of the gulls are sharp. Whaddya think?
    Craig, I think to get 5-6 gulls sharp, I'd have had to stop down a lot. I had the light and could have used the tripod...you guessed right....the trees in the BG wud have had too much definition then. What I wanted to achieve was a balance between 'one shud be able to make out all/most of the gulls' and 'every subsequent gull should be more blurred than the previous one. Bg should be blurred enough to be pleasing'. That led me to choose the shooting position and the f-stop. Wide-open would have blurred the gulls too much, I thought.

    Having said that, I'd have liked to try out different f-stops. However, this was a dynamic scene. They were perched on a pedestrian bridge in a park on a nice-weather evening :-) every time someone walked by, they flew. every time they spotted someone on the far end of the pond throwing food, they flew. At times, only 3-4 came back and perched. at times, they perched with unequal spacing between them. Once perched, they moved their heads a lot. That is why I decided to stick with the best f-stop( for what I wanted to create) and focussed on getting the rest of the stuff right.

    What I really wanted was a rim-light shot but 'better luck next time', I guess :-)

    Wish they were as steady as these:): http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ona&highlight=

  11. #11
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Shanghai, China
    Posts
    1,076
    Threads
    129
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Kaus, your explanation is about what I expected. You didn't have much time, so you chose the best specs. I completely follow your reasoning. And now I have a deeper appreciation of the trouble you went to to get the shot. Thank you.

  12. #12
    IOTY Winner 2008 Chris van Rooyen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Plettenberg Bay, South Africa
    Posts
    1,766
    Threads
    319
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I really enjoy this image, and the HA actually adds to the power (IMO).

  13. #13
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    York, England
    Posts
    229
    Threads
    15
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    The head angle is perfect as it carries the viewer's eye into the line of gulls. Nice use of shallow focus. Background colour is great and works with the bill, eye and legs. I would be tempted to crop this to a panoramic shape to further emphasize the line of birds.

  14. #14
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Dallas, Texas.
    Posts
    6,260
    Threads
    426
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thx Chris and John. Agree that the HA helps in leading the viewer into the scene. My aim was to catch the gull looking that way and not at me. I just wish the light wud have been such that it would have hit the eye nicely with this HA.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics